Bottle teats serve the nutrition of sucklings and infants. Known bottle teats have a high suction nipple and a circumferential edge for fixation to a bottle opening of a drinking bottle. Since the mounting edge has a cross-section larger than that of the suction nipple a hollow transition area is present between the suction nipple and the mounting edge and generally expands from the suction nipple to the mounting edge. At its end region, the suction nipple has a drinking hole through which liquid can exit. A ventilation valve with a valve slot is within the transition area. The bottle teat is fixed to the aperture rim of the drinking bottle by means of a threaded ring. To this end, the bottle teat is slid through the threaded ring until the mounting edge comes to seat below an annular flange of the threaded ring. The threaded ring is screwed onto a male thread of the drinking bottle, by which action the mounting edge is sandwiched between the aperture rim and the threaded ring. Likewise, it is known to configure the ventilation valve by placing suitable channels in the seat range of the mounting edge at the aperture rim of the drinking bottle.
The infant can withdraw the liquid or other fluid food with which the drinking bottle is filled, by sucking at the suction nipple. This causes the food to exit through the drinking hole and a pressure balance takes place with the surroundings via the ventilation valve.
These known bottle teats have the disadvantage that they only enable a small flow of the food to be provided. If the drinking hole is constructed too large the liquid can flow out with no suction work performed by the infant. As a result, the infant is not trained in taking food and the food might come to be spilled. Further, the taking of food is restricted by the ventilation valve which limits the pressure balance.
From WO 2004/013001 A2, a spill-proof drinking cup is known where the suction nipple has a hollow with parallel drinking slots. When the user bites onto the outer walls of the suction nipple the insides thereof urge against the bottom of the hollow, which will open the drinking slots disposed in the bottom of the hollow. This spill-proof drinking cup is not suited for use by sucklings and infants because they are unable to open the drinking slots by biting onto the suction nipple. Moreover, this drinking cup does not support the suckling's or infant's natural suction work.